"Gail Dickert, 35, said she was subjected to conversion therapy by people from various churches … It took her more than 20 years to recover from the emotional scars the therapy inflicted, scars no child should have to bear, Dickert said," wrote Adams.

"Christopher Doyle, a 32-year-old man from Northern Virginia, said he struggled with unwanted homosexual feelings until he sought therapy in his early 20s … He's now been happily married to a woman for seven years..."

Introduced by Delegate Patrick Hope last month, HB 1135 sought to ban the usage of conversion therapy for minors, a psychiatric practice condemned by every mainstream psychological organization in the United States.